Such a facet joint reamer, also commonly known as a facet joint milling cutter, is known from DE 699 17 683 T2. The known reamer has a hollow cylindrical shank, a handle at its rear, proximal end and teeth at its front end.
Such a reamer is used for cutting out vertebral components in the vicinity of a lateral process of a vertebral column vertebra in order to create postero-lateral access to strangulated nerve roots of the central nervous system. Through said access it is then possible to remove intervertebral disk pulp tissue and other tissue types (capsular, cicatricial and ring tissue), because they press on the nerve roots. Said process of a vertebra forms the facet joint with an adjacent process of an adjacent vertebra.
The microinvasive surgery method for the decompression of strangulated nerve roots using such a facet joint reamer is highly successful. However, it has been found that the bone material cut out by the reamer is not adequately removed from the cutting out area.
An object of the invention is therefore to so further develop such a facet joint reamer that it is possible to reliably remove cut out bone material.